Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for tahini and soya mince...

A spicy, tangy chilli bean sauce tossed through soft noodles and served with a crunchy pickle topping. Praise be – the family and I have found a restaurant that works for all of us. It’s Tonkotsu in east London, a canteen-style place where the kids can slurp noodles out of bento boxes to their hearts’ content and everything is wipe-clean, yet simultaneously classy. My order is always the chilli tofu hiyashi noodles, which are spicy, creamy, sharp and crunchy all at once. Naturally, I fell for them and had to try to make something similar at home. These are not as chirpy and bright as Tonkotsu’s, which have a citrussy ponzu base, and they’re a bit broodier, too, but nevertheless I’m now addicted.

You’ll need chilli bean sauce, otherwise known as doubanjiang or toban djan, to make this. Lee Kum Kee make a great and widely available one. Prep 10 min. Cook 35 min. Serves 4. 150g radishes, trimmed and finely sliced. 150ml unsweetened rice vinegar. 1 tsp caster sugar. Fine sea salt. 8 tbsp tahini. 4 tbsp chilli bean sauce. 1 tbsp agave syrup. 4 tsp toasted sesame oil. 4 tbsp rapeseed oil, plus extra to dress the noodles.

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4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced. 4cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated. 90g spring onions, chopped and rinsed. 120g dried soya mince. 180g ramen noodles. 50g toasted white sesame seeds. Put the radishes in a heatproof bowl. Put the vinegar, sugar and a teaspoon and a half of salt in a small saucepan, set it over a medium-low heat and cook, stirring, until the seasonings dissolve. Pour the hot pickling liquor over the radishes and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, make the sauce for the noodles. In a small bowl, combine the tahini, chilli bean sauce, agave syrup, sesame oil and half a teaspoon of salt, then set aside. Put the rapeseed oil in a wide frying pan over a medium heat and, once it’s hot, add the garlic, ginger and spring onions, and stir-fry for two minutes, until golden. Add the soya mince and stir-fry for another four or five minutes, until it has taken on some colour. Stir in 350ml water, leave it for a couple of minutes, until it’s absorbed by the mince, then stir in the tahini-chilli bean sauce mix and take off the heat.